Sunday, November 06, 2011

...A reminder that this Wednesday, November 9th, TCM is sponsoring screenings nationwide celebrating the 50th anniversary of WEST SIDE STORY. Check online for local theaters showing the film that day.

...At the TCM Movie Morlocks blog, Keelsetter interviews Ernesto Acevedo-Munoz, a professor at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Acevedo-Munoz has been digging into the papers of director Robert Wise at the University of Southern California while researching a forthcoming book on the film.

...Last month Criterion released THE FOUR FEATHERS (1939) on DVD. Mick La Salle has a brief, enthusiastic review at the San Francisco Chronicle, and last month Kristina posted much more on this film at Speakeasy.

...The new Amazon Kindle Lending Library program is causing a stir in the publishing world. Forbes asks whether the program will help or hurt publishers and authors. PC World links to Amazon's library list and shares the info that the program works with Kindle devices, but not Kindle apps.

...Over at Out of the Past, Raquelle's been reading up a storm of late. Here's her review of Piper Laurie's autobiography, LEARNING TO LIVE OUT LOUD.

...Classic Movie Man takes a look at Irene Dunne starring in the 1931 version of Edna Ferber's CIMARRON. I went through a major Ferber phase when I was in junior high, also reading SHOW BOAT, SO BIG, and my favorite Ferber book, GIANT.

...The Lady Eve shares thoughts on another film based on a best-selling book, REBECCA (1940).

...One of my favorite modern-day actors, Stanley Tucci, was widowed in 2009. He's just announced his engagement to Felicity Blunt, the sister of his DEVIL WEARS PRADA costar, Emily Blunt.

...Drew Barrymore will be the new cohost for the Essentials series, which begins airing in March 2012. Next year's lineup for the series includes TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT (1944), WUTHERING HEIGHTS (1939), THE THIRD MAN (1949), GILDA (1946), and SOME LIKE IT HOT (1959). Several newer films are on the list, including KRAMER VS. KRAMER (1979) and CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND (1977).

...Mark shares a terrific selection of Burt Lancaster film noir posters and stills at Where Danger Lives. I'm looking forward to hearing more about his next Top 100 countdown!

...I loved the film noir IMPACT (1949), which starred Brian Donlevy, Ella Raines, and Helen Walker. It had especially interesting location photography in Northern California areas, so I was delighted to see that Robby has a brand-new post with many photos and details on the movie's locations. Larkspur, California, which stands in for Larkspur, Idaho, in the film, appears to have changed very little since the '40s. IMPACT is available at Netflix Watch Instantly.

...Notable Passing: British-born big band singer Beryl Davis has passed away at the age of 87. She performed with Glenn Miller's Army Air Force Band, George Shearing, and Benny Goodman. In the '50s she joined Jane Russell, Rhonda Fleming, and Connie Haines to sing gospel music. Here's a sample, thanks to YouTube:

...Sending continued best wishes to Caftan Woman as she recovers from her run-in with a garbage truck. She tells the story of this unfortunate event with a wonderful sense of humor, which hopefully bodes well for as fast a recovery as possible!

2 Comments:

Wow! Caftan woman is hilarious even in the face of mortal danger. Good for her.

The Music on Film series will be the perfect gift for my sister (and for myself). As I mention on your review, it reminds me of the British Film Institute's Classic Films Series - thin books packed with info. Only the BFI is more like a review.

Wasn't that a marvelous story Caftan Woman told? I really admired her keeping her sense of humor in the face of something so unpleasant.

So glad I could point you to the Music on Film series! Most of the books published in the series to date are on "newer" movies (i.e., THIS IS SPINAL TAP, CABARET), but hopefully there will be more on "older" films in the future. The WSS book is outstanding.